QICC
A Mosque and a Da'wah Center in Doha Qatar
Assalamu alaikum
"Back in the old days, religion was nothing more than a function of culture. Lacking a scientific theory of nature, once-upon-time man’s multiple Gods reflected the mysteries and wonders of the worlds around him. Much has been said about polytheism/animism but it did serve its purpose. You are right, it marked the beginning of man’s search for divine beings."
Our behaviors as human beings are defined by two basic important enlightenments, culture first, religion later (Remember? The cavemen behaved culturally, and did quite well, too, before they even got to know the concept of the Diving Being).
This is essentially an expression of the evolutionary theory of religion. Accordingly, man's primitive understanding of the forces of nature around him led him to believe that these forces are controlled by beings more powerful than him. Man didn’t have answers why the thunderstorm produces lightning streak, why the sun or the moon eclipse, why volcanoes erupt or why the ground shake during earthquake? Thus lightning bolts gradually became Jupiter’s throwing weapon – a nasty deterrents to those who earn his ire. To appease the raging god or goddess of the volcanoes, screaming virgins are thrown down as sacrifices.
Each tribe had their own deity which they worshipped. They appeased them just like they appeased their tribal leaders by giving them foods. In due course of time, according to the theory, during tribal conflict and warfare, the gods of the dominating tribe were also worshipped by the defeated tribes. Thus it paved the way for the evolution of these primitive religions/animisms from many tribal gods to fewer tribal gods, eventually leading to the belief of two gods – the god of evil and the god of good.
Eventually when tribes became larger and larger and became nations, monotheism came as with Judaism. Arguably, the Marfan Egyptian Pharaoh Akhnaten, also introduced it as what was said by our brothers and sisters here.
This theory led to the belief that since man nowadays understand the forces of nature, then there is no need for a religion to explain the supernatural. Science necessitates therefore the demise of religion.
But Islam’s view is rather the opposite - one of degeneration.
Monotheism is the original state of religion after which it degenerated into polytheism until prophets were sent again to re-affirm monotheism. Hence the history of religion is of a degeneration-regeneration model. This has to be the case for several reasons.
Firstly, Allah, the Mighty, the Majestic, the Wise, the Beneficent, the Merciful, made Adam the first man and the first Prophet and He taught him the name of all things. He gave him knowledge and this includes the knowledge of religion. It is not befitting for Allah to create something and just leave it on its own to find enlightenment.
Imagine a factory owner advertising in the newspaper about his new factory. Afterwards people came in applying for jobs. Now the first day of work started but the employees were never told what they should do specifically. They might have knowledge that they are in the factory and they are supposed to do something in the factory, but what is it, they were never told. What would you think of the factory owner who invited them, hired them and promised to pay them wages? You would think that he must be nuts! In fact every single machine you buy nowadays has some kind of operation manual or something so that buyers can use them properly.
If we deemed it improbable that such factory owner exist, then how can we repeat what the evolutionists (by implication) are saying about Allah, the Self Subsisting, al Qayyum. By saying that Allah created the creation and left them alone to find out things for themselves is as though Allah is neither the Wise nor the Merciful.
Secondly, the texts of Quran and Hadeeth are equivocally clear concerning this issue. The second pillar of Imaan (Faith) is concerning prophethood. That we believe all prophets sent by Allah to mankind. Now of course one might ask if one should believe in Moses, Jesus or Muhammad at the same time then we also must be a Jew, a Christian and a Muslim at the same time. Again we beg the question – could Allah sent these prophets so that people would be confused? Is Allah the author of confusion?
Any Muslim of course studying basic Islam would refuse to acknowledge this because all these prophets were sent with the same fundamental message – which is the worship of Allah alone or in Arabic Tawheed.
And verily, We have sent among every nation a messenger (proclaiming): "Worship Allah (Alone), and avoid (or keep away from) Taghut (all false deities, etc. i.e. do not worship Taghut besides Allah)." Then of them were some whom Allah guided and of them were some upon whom the straying was justified. So travel through the land and see what was the end of those who denied (the truth). (16:36)
Say (O Muslims), "We believe in Allâh and that which has been sent down to us and that which has been sent down to Ibrâhim (Abraham), Ismâ'il (Ishmael), Ishâque (Isaac), Ya'qûb (Jacob), and to Al-Asbât [the twelve sons of Ya'qûb (Jacob)], and that which has been given to Mûsa (Moses) and 'Iesa (Jesus), and that which has been given to the Prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and to Him we have submitted (in Islâm)." (Al-Baqarah 2:136)
Indeed the original state of things is worship of Allah alone. Even biblical passages confirm this:
I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. Exodus 20:2-3
If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a miraculous sign or wonder, and if the sign or wonder of which he has spoken takes place, and he says, "Let us follow other gods" (gods you have not known) "and let us worship them," you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul. Deuteronomy (13:1-3)
During the time of Adam and his progenies, they were one community and they worshipped Allah alone.
Mankind were but one community (i.e. on one religion - Islamic Monotheism), then they differed (later), and had not it been for a Word that went forth before from your Lord, it would have been settled between them regarding what they differed.
Mankind were one community and Allâh sent Prophets with glad tidings and warnings, and with them He sent the Scripture in truth to judge between people in matters wherein they differed. And only those to whom (the Scripture) was given differed concerning it after clear proofs had come unto them through hatred, one to another. Then Allâh by His Leave guided those who believed to the truth of that wherein they differed. And Allâh guides whom He wills to a Straight Path. (Al-Baqarah 2:213)
When the people started worshipping idols the first Messenger, Noah, was sent to mankind.
Verily, We have inspired you as We inspired Noah and the Prophets after him. (4:163)
The prominent companion, Abdullah Ibn Abbas, the one to whom the Prophet made supplication to Allah “Teach him the interpretation of the Qur’an” said:
There were a period of 10 centuries between Adam and Noah during which people were Muslims.”
In his commentary of this verse:
"And they have said: 'You shall not leave your gods, nor shall you leave Wadd, nor Suwaa', nor Yaghooth, nor Ya’ooq, nor Nasr (names of the idols); (71:23)
...Ibn Abbas said:
“These were idols of Prophet Noah’s nation which in time ended up amongst the Arabs. Wadd became the tribal god of Kalb tribe in the region of Dawmatul Jandal, Suwa was adopted by the Hudhayl tribe, Yaghooth by the tribe of Gutayf at Jurf near Saba. Ya’ooq, by the Hamdan tribe and Nasr became the god of the Dhul Kala clan of the Himyar tribe. These idols were named after some righteous men among Noah’s people. When these righteous men died, Satan inspired the people to make statues of them bearing their names. These statues were placed in their favourite meeting places as reminders of righteousness and no one of that generation worshipped them. However, when that generation died off, and the purpose of the statues were forgotten, Satan came to their descendants and told them that their predecessors used to worship the statues, because it was die to them that it reined. The descendants were fooled and began to worship them as idols. The following generations continued to worship them. Bukhari, vol. 6, Pp 414-5, hadith no. 442.
Thirdly, several facts points to the veracity of degeneration model. After the teachings of the prophets were changed or lost, many gods were worshipped but still the belief in a Supreme Being remains. “No matter what their stage of religious development may have been according to the evolutionary theory, most believe in a Supreme God over all other gods or spirits. From Itzmna, the creator-god of the Central American Mayans to Ngewo, the creator of the universe and spirits of Sierra Leone Mende, and from Hinduism’s Brahma, the Impersonal Absolute, to Mârût the ancient city deity of Babylon and Supreme God of the pantheon, the Supreme Being can be clearly seen.” (Fundamentals of Tawheed Dr Bilal Philips pg. 204)
Jesus Christ’s first followers were monotheist and they were headed by James, whom the bible termed the brother of Jesus. These followers were massacred during the destruction of Solomon’s temple by the Romans in 60 or 70 AD (Im not sure of the date). Later on, Christianity degenerated into Tritheism with the adoption of the Trinity during the Nicene Council in 320 AD. Afterwards even Mary and several saints were worshipped, turning Christianity into an essentially polytheistic religion.
Islam shared the same fate because several Muslims worship the graves and its occupants, asking help to saints or Awliya, erecting monuments over them, sanctifying them and performing acts of worship in them. The only difference between Islam and Christianity in this respect is that Islam has still the original teachings by the virtue of the preservation of its fundamental sources – the Qur’an and hadeeth while Christianity has not. Biblical scholars and doctors of divinity themselves openly claim that the bible is not the original scriptures that contains the teachings of Christ.
I am glad that our intelligent and articulate brothers and sisters joined us in our group Tausug Islam. We welcome you all with the greeting Assalamu alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.
Abu Khalid
"Back in the old days, religion was nothing more than a function of culture. Lacking a scientific theory of nature, once-upon-time man’s multiple Gods reflected the mysteries and wonders of the worlds around him. Much has been said about polytheism/animism but it did serve its purpose. You are right, it marked the beginning of man’s search for divine beings."
Our behaviors as human beings are defined by two basic important enlightenments, culture first, religion later (Remember? The cavemen behaved culturally, and did quite well, too, before they even got to know the concept of the Diving Being).
This is essentially an expression of the evolutionary theory of religion. Accordingly, man's primitive understanding of the forces of nature around him led him to believe that these forces are controlled by beings more powerful than him. Man didn’t have answers why the thunderstorm produces lightning streak, why the sun or the moon eclipse, why volcanoes erupt or why the ground shake during earthquake? Thus lightning bolts gradually became Jupiter’s throwing weapon – a nasty deterrents to those who earn his ire. To appease the raging god or goddess of the volcanoes, screaming virgins are thrown down as sacrifices.
Each tribe had their own deity which they worshipped. They appeased them just like they appeased their tribal leaders by giving them foods. In due course of time, according to the theory, during tribal conflict and warfare, the gods of the dominating tribe were also worshipped by the defeated tribes. Thus it paved the way for the evolution of these primitive religions/animisms from many tribal gods to fewer tribal gods, eventually leading to the belief of two gods – the god of evil and the god of good.
Eventually when tribes became larger and larger and became nations, monotheism came as with Judaism. Arguably, the Marfan Egyptian Pharaoh Akhnaten, also introduced it as what was said by our brothers and sisters here.
This theory led to the belief that since man nowadays understand the forces of nature, then there is no need for a religion to explain the supernatural. Science necessitates therefore the demise of religion.
But Islam’s view is rather the opposite - one of degeneration.
Monotheism is the original state of religion after which it degenerated into polytheism until prophets were sent again to re-affirm monotheism. Hence the history of religion is of a degeneration-regeneration model. This has to be the case for several reasons.
Firstly, Allah, the Mighty, the Majestic, the Wise, the Beneficent, the Merciful, made Adam the first man and the first Prophet and He taught him the name of all things. He gave him knowledge and this includes the knowledge of religion. It is not befitting for Allah to create something and just leave it on its own to find enlightenment.
Imagine a factory owner advertising in the newspaper about his new factory. Afterwards people came in applying for jobs. Now the first day of work started but the employees were never told what they should do specifically. They might have knowledge that they are in the factory and they are supposed to do something in the factory, but what is it, they were never told. What would you think of the factory owner who invited them, hired them and promised to pay them wages? You would think that he must be nuts! In fact every single machine you buy nowadays has some kind of operation manual or something so that buyers can use them properly.
If we deemed it improbable that such factory owner exist, then how can we repeat what the evolutionists (by implication) are saying about Allah, the Self Subsisting, al Qayyum. By saying that Allah created the creation and left them alone to find out things for themselves is as though Allah is neither the Wise nor the Merciful.
Secondly, the texts of Quran and Hadeeth are equivocally clear concerning this issue. The second pillar of Imaan (Faith) is concerning prophethood. That we believe all prophets sent by Allah to mankind. Now of course one might ask if one should believe in Moses, Jesus or Muhammad at the same time then we also must be a Jew, a Christian and a Muslim at the same time. Again we beg the question – could Allah sent these prophets so that people would be confused? Is Allah the author of confusion?
Any Muslim of course studying basic Islam would refuse to acknowledge this because all these prophets were sent with the same fundamental message – which is the worship of Allah alone or in Arabic Tawheed.
And verily, We have sent among every nation a messenger (proclaiming): "Worship Allah (Alone), and avoid (or keep away from) Taghut (all false deities, etc. i.e. do not worship Taghut besides Allah)." Then of them were some whom Allah guided and of them were some upon whom the straying was justified. So travel through the land and see what was the end of those who denied (the truth). (16:36)
Say (O Muslims), "We believe in Allâh and that which has been sent down to us and that which has been sent down to Ibrâhim (Abraham), Ismâ'il (Ishmael), Ishâque (Isaac), Ya'qûb (Jacob), and to Al-Asbât [the twelve sons of Ya'qûb (Jacob)], and that which has been given to Mûsa (Moses) and 'Iesa (Jesus), and that which has been given to the Prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and to Him we have submitted (in Islâm)." (Al-Baqarah 2:136)
Indeed the original state of things is worship of Allah alone. Even biblical passages confirm this:
I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. Exodus 20:2-3
If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a miraculous sign or wonder, and if the sign or wonder of which he has spoken takes place, and he says, "Let us follow other gods" (gods you have not known) "and let us worship them," you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul. Deuteronomy (13:1-3)
During the time of Adam and his progenies, they were one community and they worshipped Allah alone.
Mankind were but one community (i.e. on one religion - Islamic Monotheism), then they differed (later), and had not it been for a Word that went forth before from your Lord, it would have been settled between them regarding what they differed.
Mankind were one community and Allâh sent Prophets with glad tidings and warnings, and with them He sent the Scripture in truth to judge between people in matters wherein they differed. And only those to whom (the Scripture) was given differed concerning it after clear proofs had come unto them through hatred, one to another. Then Allâh by His Leave guided those who believed to the truth of that wherein they differed. And Allâh guides whom He wills to a Straight Path. (Al-Baqarah 2:213)
When the people started worshipping idols the first Messenger, Noah, was sent to mankind.
Verily, We have inspired you as We inspired Noah and the Prophets after him. (4:163)
The prominent companion, Abdullah Ibn Abbas, the one to whom the Prophet made supplication to Allah “Teach him the interpretation of the Qur’an” said:
There were a period of 10 centuries between Adam and Noah during which people were Muslims.”
In his commentary of this verse:
"And they have said: 'You shall not leave your gods, nor shall you leave Wadd, nor Suwaa', nor Yaghooth, nor Ya’ooq, nor Nasr (names of the idols); (71:23)
...Ibn Abbas said:
“These were idols of Prophet Noah’s nation which in time ended up amongst the Arabs. Wadd became the tribal god of Kalb tribe in the region of Dawmatul Jandal, Suwa was adopted by the Hudhayl tribe, Yaghooth by the tribe of Gutayf at Jurf near Saba. Ya’ooq, by the Hamdan tribe and Nasr became the god of the Dhul Kala clan of the Himyar tribe. These idols were named after some righteous men among Noah’s people. When these righteous men died, Satan inspired the people to make statues of them bearing their names. These statues were placed in their favourite meeting places as reminders of righteousness and no one of that generation worshipped them. However, when that generation died off, and the purpose of the statues were forgotten, Satan came to their descendants and told them that their predecessors used to worship the statues, because it was die to them that it reined. The descendants were fooled and began to worship them as idols. The following generations continued to worship them. Bukhari, vol. 6, Pp 414-5, hadith no. 442.
Thirdly, several facts points to the veracity of degeneration model. After the teachings of the prophets were changed or lost, many gods were worshipped but still the belief in a Supreme Being remains. “No matter what their stage of religious development may have been according to the evolutionary theory, most believe in a Supreme God over all other gods or spirits. From Itzmna, the creator-god of the Central American Mayans to Ngewo, the creator of the universe and spirits of Sierra Leone Mende, and from Hinduism’s Brahma, the Impersonal Absolute, to Mârût the ancient city deity of Babylon and Supreme God of the pantheon, the Supreme Being can be clearly seen.” (Fundamentals of Tawheed Dr Bilal Philips pg. 204)
Jesus Christ’s first followers were monotheist and they were headed by James, whom the bible termed the brother of Jesus. These followers were massacred during the destruction of Solomon’s temple by the Romans in 60 or 70 AD (Im not sure of the date). Later on, Christianity degenerated into Tritheism with the adoption of the Trinity during the Nicene Council in 320 AD. Afterwards even Mary and several saints were worshipped, turning Christianity into an essentially polytheistic religion.
Islam shared the same fate because several Muslims worship the graves and its occupants, asking help to saints or Awliya, erecting monuments over them, sanctifying them and performing acts of worship in them. The only difference between Islam and Christianity in this respect is that Islam has still the original teachings by the virtue of the preservation of its fundamental sources – the Qur’an and hadeeth while Christianity has not. Biblical scholars and doctors of divinity themselves openly claim that the bible is not the original scriptures that contains the teachings of Christ.
I am glad that our intelligent and articulate brothers and sisters joined us in our group Tausug Islam. We welcome you all with the greeting Assalamu alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.
Abu Khalid
